Head of programmes jobs in London

We are looking for a Head of International Programmes to be responsible for delivering an international strategy, and developing the capacity and reach of the charitys global network to best meet the needs of its beneficiaries.

This role will include developing close relationships with international partners to help them identify their needs, and deliver programmes and projects to meet them. You will also lead and support the development of international grant income, cultivating and stewarding relationships with corporates, trusts, and foundations.

This is a London hybrid role with 2 days a week in the office.

The Charity
You would be joining a supportive and welcoming team at a well established global social welfare charity, offering 28 days leave per annum FTE plus bank and statutory holidays, along with a competitive pension scheme (up to 6% matching contributions).

The Role
Identify opportunities from within the charitys global network to grow and develop the capacity of the network.

Maintain and develop a pipeline of project and programme opportunities to present to donors to fund the charitys work internationally.

Raise grants, including securing funding from corporates as well as trusts and foundations.

Maintain and build key relationships with external stakeholders, such as core funders and partners.

Manage the International Programmes and Grants Manager.

The Candidate
Experience at a senior level in a relevant area.

Experience of programme and project management ideally in a development setting.

Experience of creating and delivering organisational strategies.

Experience of grant fundraising and management ideally in an international setting.

Experience of managing staff and volunteers.

History of directly managing people, steering projects, and guiding teams towards achieving strategic goals.

Desirable
Knowledge and understanding of the Catholic Church.
Knowledge of the maritime sector.

IMPORTANT NOTE

Our aim is to respond to all successful applications within 5 days. If you havent been contacted within 5 days your application has been unsuccessful, but we positively encourage you to apply for any other positions that you may see in the future.

We apologise that we cannot contact everybody in person but thank you in advance for your interest.

Third Solutions encourages applications from individuals of all ages & backgrounds. Appointment will be made on merit alone but candidates must be able to demonstrate their ability to work in the UK. Third Solutions acts as an employment agency for permanent recruitment & an employment business for temporary recruitment as defined by the Conduct of Employment Agencies & Employment Business Regulations 2003.

Good relationships shape our health and happiness, yet we are taught so little about them. LMK (Let Me Know) is on a mission to change that. We are a young and thriving charity providing education about healthy and unhealthy behaviours so that young people have the knowledge and skills to avoid abuse and thrive in their relationships. We work in schools, community organisations and workplaces across London. 

LMK’s Head of Programmes leads, develops and delivers LMKs high quality education programmes for young people and the trusted adults around them, ensuring our programmes are responsive to the changing experiences of young people and the feedback from our programme evaluation. Leading a passionate and talented team of employees and freelance youth workers, this role is an important ambassadorial role for LMK, bringing gravitas and insight from your experience of education provision to evidence LMK’s impact to fellow education professionals, youth workers, funders and the media. Working with the CEO, and our Youth Advisory Board, this role helps shape the strategic direction for LMK. 

We’re especially keen to hear from candidates who have:

• Strong understanding of RSHE / relationship education

• Senior leadership experience

• Experience in designing and delivering youth-focused education programmes

• Safeguarding expertise (DSL experience highly desirable)

• The ability to inspire, lead and support a diverse team.

Working from home, but with regular travel around London, so must be based in or near London.

Recruitment Timeline
Vacancy closing date: Sunday, March 22, 2026, 11:30 pm
First round interview date: Wednesday, April 1, 2026

Please see job description for more details.

Are you passionate about helping young people grow in character, confidence and values? Do you want to lead a programme rooted in Catholic ethos that shapes whole school communities?

A long-established Catholic education charity is seeking a Head of Programme of Schools’ Virtue Programme to lead and strengthen their values-based formation programme across six partner schools.

This meaningful role ensures the charity’s mission, identity and Catholic ethos remain vibrant and influential in each school, supporting both students and staff in understanding and living human virtues in an inclusive and accessible way.
 
Key Responsibilities

• Lead the strategic development of the virtues programme across six schools
• Ensure the programme reflects Catholic ethos while remaining accessible to students and staff of all faith backgrounds
• Review and enhance current virtues initiatives
• Build strong relationships with school leaders, staff and students
• Align the virtues programme with wider youth and formation initiatives
• Ensure consistent, high-quality delivery across all schools

 
About You

• Strong interpersonal and communication skills
• Excellent organisational and project-delivery abilities
• Confident decision-maker able to influence stakeholders
• Budget-management experience
• Good IT skills
• Empathy with Catholic values and ethos
• Collaborative, adaptable and confident working across multiple sites
• Willingness to undertake safeguarding training and a full DBS check

 
Why Apply?

• A meaningful leadership role within Catholic education
• Opportunity to shape character formation across six inspiring schools
• Hybrid working with flexibility

 
How to Apply
Closing date: 2 April 2026
Interviews: 29 & 30 April 2026

?? To apply or find out more, please contact Gemma at TPP Recruitment.

We want you to have every opportunity to demonstrate your skills, ability and potential; please contact us if you require any assistance or adjustment so that we can help with making the application process work for you.

Martingale Postgraduate Foundation (Martingale) exists to fund and support the next generation of talented researchers. We believe that family income should not be a barrier to the pursuit of excellence, and our mission is to enable and nurture talented individuals from low-socioeconomic backgrounds to thrive within world-leading postgraduate research.

Martingale’s flagship programme is the Martingale Postgraduate Scholarship, which supports students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds to pursue and excel in postgraduate degrees, by providing:

• A fully-funded Living Wage Scholarship to pursue a one-year Masters degree or a four-year PhD.
• All tuition fees and research expenses, including a tax-free stipend for living costs.
• Tailored support to apply for Martingale courses at our partner universities.
• Access to Martingale programmes, including leadership training and connections with top academic and industry professionals.
• Membership of a pioneering community of talented researchers.

In the three years since Martingale launched, we are now supporting over 100 Scholars to undertake postgraduate degrees across our ten partner universities and have committed over £7.7m in Scholarships. We are continuing to expand our offer, bringing on new partners each year.

We are seeking an experienced, strategic and collaborative Head of Programmes to join our Senior Leadership Team and play a pivotal role in shaping our fast-growing Martingale Scholarship Programme.

As Head of Programmes, you will join our senior management team, overseeing the growing programmes team. Working closely with the CEO, you will oversee all aspects of Martingale’s Scholarship Programme from application to alumni, ensuring that the programme maintains a strong reputation for being both supportive and prestigious.

You will set the strategic direction of Martingale’s Scholarship Programme, working closely with the CEO on a day-to-day basis to ensure that as we expand across STEM the programme remains of a high quality and meeting Martingale’s mission. You will ensure that Martingale’s programmes are impactful, data informed and meet the needs of the scholars we are supporting. You will also be responsible for managing relationships with various external stakeholders including universities, funders and evaluation partners.

We are looking for a strong strategic leader with extensive programme experience including line management, partnership management and external relations. You will bring excellent organisational skills, strong attention to detail, a proactive mindset, and a strong alignment with Martingale’s mission. We welcome applicants from a range of career paths who are excited to be part of a growing, fast-paced charity delivering meaningful impact.

Martingale Foundation is incubated by Purposeful Ventures who provide operational and strategic support. The Head of Programmes will be employed by Purposeful Ventures.

About Purposeful Ventures

Our vision is for a fairer society where all young people thrive. We work with social entrepreneurs, organisations and philanthropists that share our vision. Through our work with these partners, young people are given opportunities in education and beyond, helping them reach their true potential.

Purposeful Ventures offers philanthropists and funders bespoke advice, using an evidence-based approach to help them to identify high-impact opportunities to fund. We then partner with visionary individuals and mission-driven organisations with strong theories of change. We help them turn great ideas into sustainable and successful ventures by offering fully individualised and very hands-on support, access to funding and a ‘high-challenge, high-support’ home. We do the minimum necessary and whatever it takes to succeed.

Key Responsibilities:

Strategic Leadership of the Scholarship Programme

• Provide strategic oversight of the end-to-end Martingale Scholarship lifecycle, from selection and admissions through to scholar progression and alumni outcomes.
• Develop and deliver a multi-year operational strategy for Martingale’s Development Programme (MDP), ensuring scalability, academic excellence, and alignment with organisational growth plans.
• Continuously refine the scholar journey to ensure it is sector-leading, prestigious, and tailored to the needs of students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds.
• Build deep expertise in postgraduate education, research culture, and enabling access to inform programme evolution and innovation.

Admissions & Selection Strategy

• Lead the design, governance, and continuous improvement of a rigorous, fair, and high-quality admissions and assessment process across subject areas.
• Oversee shortlisting, interview frameworks, assessment centres, and final scholarship recommendations to the Selection Committee.
• Ensure alignment between Martingale’s selection processes and university partner requirements.
• Maintain oversight of scholar allocation, including place management, deferrals, intermissions, withdrawals, and reallocations.

Scholar Experience & Case Management

• Ensure effective advocacy for Scholars including maximising progression and retention across cohorts.
• Oversee complex scholar casework, including deferrals, intermissions, safeguarding concerns, funding queries, disciplinary action and university liaison.
• Ensure consistent, professional, and high-touch support across the scholar lifecycle.
• Strengthen cohort cohesion and long-term alumni engagement.

Safeguarding & Compliance

• Act as Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) for Martingale, ensuring safeguarding policy implementation and record keeping in line with best practice in relation to vulnerable adults.
• Oversee data protection compliance relating to scholar and applicant data, in partnership with the organisation’s Data Protection Officer.
• Ensure programme delivery complies with charity, funding, and regulatory requirements.

Budget, Contracting & Financial Oversight

• Hold responsibility for programme budgets, ensuring effective resource allocation, cost control, and value for money.
• Oversee scholarship programme financial management, and work with Head of Strategy and Operations on onwards grants including deferrals, funding adjustments, and invoicing.
• Work with the Head of Strategy and Operations on university contracting, scholarship agreements, and financial reconciliation with partners.
• Ensure timely and accurate invoicing and reporting processes across programme operations.

University & Sector Partnerships (Programme-Focused)

• Lead programme-level relationships with university partners, including Heads of Departments, Graduate Tutors, CDT leads, and admissions teams.
• Ensure universities meet partnership commitments and that Scholars are appropriately supported institutionally.
• Contribute to partnership negotiations where programme design or operational delivery is concerned.
• Identify opportunities to strengthen university research culture and scholar support mechanisms.

Monitoring, Evaluation & Impact

• Lead development and oversight of Martingale’s Theory of Change and evaluation framework, working with our external independent evaluators.
• Develop robust systems to track scholar progression, outcomes, and programme effectiveness.
• Provide high-quality reporting to the CEO, Board, funders, and partners, evidencing impact and continuous improvement.

New Programme Development & Innovation

• Work with the CEO to design new subject expansions, pilots, or initiatives aligned to Martingale’s mission.
• Assess operational, financial, and reputational implications of programme growth.
• Develop business cases, delivery models, and implementation plans for expansion.

Team Leadership & Culture

• Provide senior leadership to the Programmes team, including line management of programme staff.
• Build a high-performing, mission-driven team with clear accountability and ownership.
• Develop succession planning and team capability as Martingale scales.
• Model Martingale’s values of excellence, professionalism, and thoughtful support.

Organisational Leadership

• Serve as a member of the Senior Management Team, contributing to organisational strategy and governance.
• Represent Martingale externally in academic, sector, and policy contexts where appropriate.
• Support Board and Committee reporting related to programme performance and scholar outcomes.

Key Requirements:

Essential Criteria

• Right to work in the UK

Experience and skills

Essential

• Significant experience leading and delivering high-quality programmes, ideally in higher education, research, scholarships, or a mission-driven organisation.
• Strong stakeholder management experience, with evidence of working effectively with universities, academics, funders, or equivalent partners.
• Proven line management experience, with the ability to develop and lead a high-performing team.
• Experience managing complex operational delivery, including planning, timelines, and coordinating multiple moving parts.
• Strong experience handling sensitive casework and providing professional support to individuals.
• Budget management experience, including planning and overseeing programme delivery costs.
• Excellent written communication skills, including producing clear reports and briefings for senior audiences.
• Commitment to safeguarding, wellbeing and compliance, with willingness to act as safeguarding lead.

Desirable

• Experience working directly with postgraduate research, PhD programmes, or doctoral training environments.
• Experience designing or overseeing selection and assessment processes (e.g. interviews, admissions, recruitment pipelines).
• Experience managing programme evaluation frameworks, including Theory of Change and external evaluators.
• Familiarity with contracting, invoicing, and operational finance processes.
• Knowledge of UK higher education systems and research culture.
• Experience working in a start-up, scale-up, or fast-growing charity.

Personal Characteristics

• Highly organised, proactive, and able to prioritise effectively in a fast-paced environment.
• Excellent interpersonal skills: able to build rapport and trusting relationships, able to work co-operatively in a multidisciplinary setting.
• Strong judgement, discretion and professionalism, including ability to handle confidential information appropriately.
• A commitment to Martingale’s mission to support postgraduate students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds.
• Comfortable working in a rapidly growing and changing organisation with a degree of ambiguity – confident to create processes and ways forward where they might not yet exist.
• Creative and innovative: willing to think outside the box to maximise reach.
• Resourceful, able to act on initiative, hardworking, detail-oriented, and systematic.

Our Second Home (OSH) is the UK’s youth movement for people with refugee backgrounds. We support young people to build community, become leaders, and flourish into adulthood in the place they call home.

Each year, hundreds of young people from dozens of countries and living in London & Bristol take part in our residential programmes, leadership training and youth hubs. Our residentials are often the first step – immersive, relationship-rich spaces where young people connect, reflect and begin to see themselves as leaders. From there, many move into leadership training and take on volunteer roles within the movement.

Our work is youth-led and rooted in lived experience. We are now implementing our 2025–2028 strategy, focused on strengthening quality, embedding learning and ensuring our growth is sustainable and safe.

The Head of Programmes is a senior leadership role, reporting to the CEO and managing two senior colleagues. You will hold responsibility for the quality, coherence and safeguarding of all programme activity.

Responsibilities (abridged - see attached job description)

Programme Leadership & Strategy in Practice

• Lead implementation of OSH’s 2025–2028 programme strategy.

• Oversee the design, quality and coherence of residentials, leadership training and hubs.

• Take operational responsibility for residential delivery, including participant referrals, recruitment of staff and freelancers, programme content and educational standards.

• Attend and lead approximately five residential programmes per year.

• Identify opportunities to strengthen youth engagement and leadership pathways as the organisation scales.

• Ensure programme data is accurately recorded and used to improve delivery.

Team Leadership

• Line manage the Communities Manager and Leadership & Volunteering Manager.

• Provide structured supervision, clear objectives and professional development support.

• Ensure strong coordination between hubs, residentials and leadership pathways.

• Build a culture of accountability, reflection and continuous improvement.

Safeguarding & Welfare

• Act as Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead and serve as DSL at events as required.

• Ensure safeguarding practice is robust, consistent and embedded across all activities.

• Respond to safeguarding and behavioural issues appropriately and oversee safe recruitment processes.

Partnerships, Budget & Oversight

• Maintain referral partnerships and represent OSH externally where appropriate.

• Hold programme budgets within agreed limits and ensure financial discipline.

• Embed monitoring, evaluation and reflective practice across the programme team.

Experience & Competencies (abridged - see attached job description)

Essential

• At least 5 years’ experience in youth or youth-centred programming, including residential or intensive settings.

• Experience designing and delivering leadership development or informal education programmes.

• Strong facilitation and training skills.

• Demonstrable experience managing staff and developing teams.

• Strong understanding of safeguarding practice and willingness to act as Deputy DSL.

• Experience working with young people from refugee or asylum-seeking backgrounds, or strong understanding of the issues affecting them.

• Ability to balance strategic oversight with hands-on delivery in a part-time senior leadership role.

• Strong organisational skills and commitment to inclusive, youth-led practice.

Desirable

• Level 3 Safeguarding training.

• Experience managing programme budgets.

• Experience contributing to organisational strategy or scaling programme models.

• Familiarity with Google Workspace, Beacon CRM, MyConcern or similar systems.

• Lived experience of migration or displacement.

The Democratic Progress Institute (DPI) is an independent non-governmental organisation established in consultation with international experts in conflict resolution and democratic advancement. DPI seeks to promote peace and democracy building through strengthened public dialogue and engagement.

Overall Purpose of the Position

The Head of Programmes and Operations is responsible for overseeing the implementation of the organisations’ project activities and leads the DPI Programmes team, also ensuring effective and enabling line-management of Finance, Fundraising, Programmes and Operations colleagues. The role works with the CEO on operational, fundraising, strategic and monitoring levels and involves representing DPI at external meetings and events as needed.

Project Management

 

• Coordinates the day-to-day operational management of the DPI’s programmes, including the implementation of activities and financial matters – in close coordination with relevant colleagues.
• Monitors the implementation of project activities and ensures compliance with donor requirements, the organizational strategic framework, as well as internal procedures and policies.
• Initiates and facilitates internal programmes and events planning meetings (including designing the agenda and overseeing the organisation and preparation of materials)
• Organises regular meetings with the Programmes team to ensure project plans and donor requirements are on track.
• Keeps an up-to-date overview of programme delivery, reports any challenges, and suggests solutions to the CEO.
• Builds project budgets with Finance, monitors project expenditures, develops financial strategies and addresses financial challenges.
• Monitors the political and security situation in Türkiye and the wider regions, developments relating to the conflict and impact on the project.

People Management

• Ensures the effective line-management of the Funding and Development Manager, Finance Manager, Operations Manager and Programmes staff.
• Organises regular check-ins with direct reports, to enable effective management of workloads, ensuring priorities are met, and to facilitate professional development and staff retention.
• Works closely with the Funding and Development Manager to ensure timely delivery and monitoring of contractual reports, including interim and final reports to donors.

• Oversees deliverables and performance of the M&E and Communications consultants.

Networking

• Represents and promotes DPI’s work in varied contexts and maintains relationships with external stakeholders in Türkiye and in Europe such as political party representatives.
• Builds and maintains relationships with partners and donors alongside the Funding and Development Manager when needed.
• Carries out frequent visits to Türkiye and maintains a good working knowledge of the facts on the ground when needed.

Governance

• Leads on the planning of regular Board meetings, in collaboration with all relevant colleagues and the CEO.

Key Experience/Technical Competencies/Knowledge required for the position.

The successful candidate should have the following:

• A postgraduate degree in Political Science, Law, Conflict Resolution, International Relations, or equivalent professional experience.
• At least 8-10 years’ experience in project management in charity or NGO setting.
• Extensive experience with line-management, and a commitment to fostering an engaging and inclusive team culture.
• Strong experience of overseeing the implementation of government and/or EU funded projects.
• Strong organisational and planning skills.
• Critical and strategic thinking skills.
• Experience in research and complex information analysis.
• Excellent written and spoken English.
• A strong understanding of confidentiality terms.
• Ability to manage under tight deadlines and in high-pressure environments

 

The successful candidate should have the right to work in the United Kingdom.

Applications will be considered on a rolling basis with the final deadline set as 18 March 2026

EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES

DPI is committed to Equal Opportunities and Cultural Diversity.

DPI SAFEGUARDING STATEMENT

DPI maintains zero tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse. All employment offers are conditional upon the receipt of satisfactory references and the signing of our code of conduct with a particular focus on Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse.